Several big names in local food industry are expanding
their operations beyond region

Dante Boccuzzi will open Next Door beside his signature restaurant, Dante, in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood.

JANET CENTURY

Dante Boccuzzi, left, goes over plans for his new Tremont restaurant, Next Door, with Tom Marenchek, center, of Ace Fixtures and general contractor Tim Jeffries.

Dante Boccuzzi says he can't imagine replicating any of his fine-dining restaurants in other markets because of his inability to control regularly the consistency of quality.
“I'm very hands-on and work directly with the chefs, so I like to make sure my restaurants are within a 30-minute drive of my house,” said the Broadview Heights resident and owner of five restaurants, including his namesake Dante at 2247 Professor Ave. in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood.
But once he opens Next Door in early 2014 — which, as the name implies, will be next to Dante — the globally experienced chef will focus on developing a fast-casual Italian concept that could be replicated in airports and suburban shopping destinations.
“There's not a lot of babysitting with fast-casual franchises since they follow the same standards,” he said.
Mr. Boccuzzi is among a handful of recognizable names — including Michael Symon, Rocco Whalen and Matt Fish — who are expanding their eateries or ancillary products into markets beyond Northeast Ohio, thereby building a broader business presence.
Thanks to the Food Network, social media and exposure in leading industry publications, the Cleveland-based proprietors already are familiar names among their target markets, said Bonnie Riggs, a restaurant industry analyst for NPD Group, a global market research firm in New York.
Because of that increased awareness, customers are energized when chefs from food-centric cities such as Cleveland are investing in their communities, thus easing the barrier of new market entry.
“We all love to try new things,” Ms. Riggs said.
Yet despite that brand familiarity, forging a new path beyond one's home base comes with its own set of considerations and challenges.

PR offensive in Charlotte

Rocco Whalen, chef and owner of Fahrenheit as well as Rosie & Rocco's, a quick-service Italian concept found at Horseshoe Cleveland Casino, Quicken Loans Arena and FirstEnergy Stadium, said he was approached by developers of a 22-story luxury high-rise in Charlotte to ice the top of that building with an 8,000-square-foot Fahrenheit.
Mr. Whalen said he thinks his exposure as a result of his 2012 participation on the Food Network's “Fat Chef” may have played a role in the developers' interest. But even with that visibility, Mr. Whalen recently hired a public relations firm for the first time in his career to market his new restaurant.
“When I purchased the lease ... on Professor (Avenue in Tremont) and opened Fahrenheit early in 2002, I had no idea what public relations were. I self-promoted,” Mr. Whalen said.
Though Mr. Whalen plans regular trips to oversee the Charlotte operation, the chef emphasizes his roots are in Cleveland. He said he even is considering relocating Fahrenheit downtown and reimagining the Tremont location, much as Michael Symon did with Lola and Lolita.

Testing the water, literally

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Matt Fish's fifth Melt Bar and Grilled opened last month in Columbus.

Matt Cole, owner of Fat Head's Brewery at 24581 Lorain Road in North Olmsted, moved this month out to Portland, Ore., for five months to open by mid-summer a second brewpub at that craft beer mecca.
“Why not? We're a very hop-forward brewery, and 30% of the world's hops are harvested from Washington and Oregon,” Mr. Cole said.
Once that brewpub is open, Mr. Cole said, he will make the cross-country commute from Cleveland to Portland one week a month for a year. A myriad of factors — from regulations to understanding consumer expectations — accompany the growth learning curve. So does adjusting beer recipes to the Portland river water.
“It has more stuff from the Earth's crust, so the chemical composition is different,” Mr. Cole said.
Mr. Cole's long-term goal — in partnership with a restaurant group he declined to identify — is to expand into Washington, California, Colorado and Texas.
“We'd also like to see our beer packaged in cans for West Coast distribution,” he said.
Meanwhile, he's looking to further Fat Head's local market penetration, and is scouting Ohio City for a brewpub expansion.

Melt keeps on truckin'

Matt Fish's fifth Melt Bar and Grilled opened just last month in Columbus — the first foray outside Northeast Ohio for his eclectic grilled cheese restaurants.
“Moving to Columbus will help us prove that the brand is not just a local success,” he said.
However, Mr. Fish said has no immediate plans to open another Melt, noting that shipping ingredients two hours south adds a new challenge to his business.
Nearly all the menu items — from the bread and sandwich dressings to sauces and soups — are made from scratch at Melt's commissary in Cleveland's Midtown neighborhood, then are delivered to its four Cleveland-area locations. Mr. Fish had to add a second delivery truck once the Columbus store opened; shipments began at four times a week but now are six times a week to ensure enough products are on hand.
“We want to make sure all recipes are made at our commissary so we have that consistency at each Melt,” said Mr. Fish, who believes Northeast Ohio still has the potential for a couple more Melt locations, along with more outposts throughout Columbus and beyond.

Kings of the keyboard

Driftwood Restaurant Group, a partnership of seasoned restaurateur Scott Kuhn and celebrity chef Chris Hodgson, so far only operates one out-of-state eatery, Allegheny Grille in Foxburg, Pa., Mr. Kuhn has found the remote venture along the Allegheny River requires constant communication.
“A restaurant takes on the personality of the person running it,” he said. “If you don't have a direct presence in the space, it takes a whole lot of emails and teleconferences to keep your fingers on the business.”
A member of company management also makes the two-hour drive weekly to oversee operations.
Meanwhile, the restaurant group that already operates Hodge's, Washington Place Bistro, 87 West and four other eateries in the Cleveland area has opened within the last year two PlayhouseSquare eateries — Cibreo and Rothschild Farms — with plans to increase its presence in that downtown district. It also is casting a wider net with a 2014 opening of restaurants in DoubleTree by Hilton hotels in Beachwood and Westlake.
Mr. Kuhn has said he believes the deal with Twin Tier Hospitality, a Pennsylvania-based hotel operator that runs the two DoubleTree properties, presents opportunities throughout Ohio and beyond for more restaurants.

Sawyer serves up vinegar

Jonathon Sawyer, who has gained national attention for his Greenhouse Tavern on East Fourth Street in downtown Cleveland because of its emphasis on locally sourced ingredients and his sustainability practices, is taking a different road to market expansion.
The November launch of Tavern Vinegar Co. in partnership with Columbus-based Middle West Spirits invigorates the chef's hobby of making hand-crafted, barrel-aged vinegars. Those products either are or will be available in select locations in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and other cities.
“Our target client base is food-minded cities,” Mr. Sawyer said.
Initial production calls for about 30,000 bottles annually, with a 30% to 50% increase over the next couple years, he said.
“Our goal is 100,000 bottles a year, but we're moving slowly,” Mr. Sawyer said. “It takes months to make vinegar.”